The semiconductor business has gone through many recent changes. One of the changes is that a chip provider may not be the same entity that manufactures the chip. For example, a first entity can come up with a chip design, a second entity can produce a mask set for the design, a third entity can fabricate wafers on which the chips (referred to as die) are located, a fourth entity can test the die on the wafer (referred to as circuit probe), a fifth entity can perform assembly, a sixth entity can perform final test, and a seventh entity can market and/or sell the final chips. Any of these entities can be a customer to the other, and a single entity (e.g., the one who markets and/or sells the final chips) may be a customer to all of the entities.
It is important to properly allocate costs among all the entities involved in manufacturing the chips. For example, when a front end such as wafer fabrication facility (fab) ships product to a back end such as a wafer circuit probe facility, there is an opportunity to bill the customer at that time. In a quote-by-wafer (QBW) scenario, the fab will invoice the customer when the wafers are shipped to the wafer circuit probe. In this scenario, the customer purchases wafers, independent of circuit probe yield. If there are defective wafers (e.g., a wafer fails to meet a predetermined yield), the fab can then refund the customer some or all of the payment. For example, the refund may be prorated according to the wafer yield. In a quote-by-die (QBD) scenario, the fab ships the wafers to wafer circuit probe, but holds off on billing the customer. The probe yield is then reported to the fab, and the fab invoices the customer for the good die.
There are many problems associated with the above-described scenarios. For example, handling refunds is difficult and cost-ineffective. Also, in QBD scenarios, billing is often delayed for longer-than-expected time periods. Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method that addresses one or more of these problems. Additionally and/or alternatively, what is needed is a system and method that can be used in such a manufacturing environment.